Through our careers we meet people who are known for contributions only to our industry, people who are known for contributions to us as a friend or people who make contributions as a community leader. On April 18th we lost a friend who has made contributions to our industry, state, and several other areas along the way (which are too many to name). Of all his contributions he is known and remembered for, most of us will cherish the one of friend.

Don Stemple was a concrete producer, statesman, farmer and a mentor to many of us who were honored to collect his views on state government. He is recognized as a past president of our association, a group he was proud to faithfully serve. Don served several years in the West Virginia House of Delegates and later became Alcohol and Beverage Control Commission Director for the State of West Virginia under Governor Cecil Underwood.
Above all, Don shall be remembered as a gentleman and a loyal friend.

Early in February the BSA approached the West Virginia
Division of Highways Materials Control, Soils and Testing Division regarding the need for a materials procedure. The visualized MP would allow for the change of WVDOH approved raw materials within an approved mix design for Portland cement concrete. In April the request was grated with a revision to MP 711.02.23.
The materials procedure sets in place a procedure allowing for the substitution of (1) one raw material within an approved mix

design by use of a heightened version of the ―verification‖ process as opposed to requiring a new mix design. Once all criteria of the process have been met the new formulation shall receive a new mix design number in order for the mix to be tracked and data collected.
The Association has been granted the approval from MCS & T to communicate this new procedure to each District in the State, this process shall begin in late June. Should your company be faced with utilization of the MP during the upcoming weeks please notify the Association in order for the effected WVDOH District to be scheduled for one of the first presentations.

EPA‘s new ―Lead Rule‖ took effect on April 22nd, requiring contractors, property managers and others paid to renovate structures built before 1978 to be certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Contractor‘s seeking to conduct lead-based renovations or paint activities must submit EPA Form 8500-27 and all applicable fees to achieve certification. Firms must recertify every five years for renovation activities

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) requested comment recently on a ―fourth draft‖ of its proposed scheme to determine which forest certification schemes would qualify for points under its LEED system, and two of its sharpest critics already have declared— again, for sharply different reasons—that they don‘t like it.

The USGBC‘s proposal ―discriminates against North American forest and against almost all of the independent forest certification standards used in the United States and Canada,  ̳said one of those standard-setters, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), in a June 15 statement. SFI argues that the proposed rules as written ―may result in the continued exclusion‖ from the list of potential certifiers not only its group but also the American Tree Farm System (ATFS), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Sustainable Forest Management Standard, and the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC).

The National Lumber & Building Materials Dealers Association (NLBMDA) back‘s SFI‘s contention that the draft benchmarks are overly vague and subjective. ―NLBMDA‘s long-standing policy is that all major programs, including [the Forest Stewardship Council, or FSCJ, SFI, ATFS, CSA and PEFC, should be recognized for the LEED wood